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Holders of the Purse Strings: Governance and Performance of Public Retirement Systems

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  • Michael Useem
  • Olivia S. Mitchell

Abstract

Public sector pension plans are managed in diverse ways, with governance policies distinguished according to their board composition and size, how the trustees structure their investment decisions, what restrictions are placed on their investments, and whether they have independent performance evaluations. We examine how these governance policies affect pension investment strategies, and how those strategies in turn affect the funds' financial performance. Methods. Drawing on two national surveys of state and local public retirement systems in 1992 and 1993, we ask if pension governance policies affect whether they (1) invest tactically in response to changing conditions; (2) allocate assets between equities and fixed-income holdings; (3) contract for external asset management; and (4) invest outside the U.S. Results. Empirical analysis reveals that government policies - especially independent performance evaluations - predict investment decisions in all four areas. These investment strategies are found in turn to affect subsequent fund performance: preferential investing in equities and abroad increased annual returns on their asets by as much as one to two percentage points. Conclusions. The ways that public pensions are governed have a direct bearing on how they invest their assets, and the investment strategies in turn directly affect the financial performance of their holdings.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Useem & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2000. "Holders of the Purse Strings: Governance and Performance of Public Retirement Systems," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 00-08, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania.
    • Handle: RePEc:wop:pennin:00-08
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Olivia S. Mitchell & Roderick Carr, "undated". "State and Local Pension Plans," Pension Research Council Working Papers 95-13, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania.
    2. Mark J. Roe, 1997. "The Political Roots Of American Corporate Finance," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 9(4), pages 8-22, January.
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    7. Idalene F. Kesner & Roy B. Johnson, 1990. "An investigation of the relationship between board composition and stockholder suits," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(4), pages 327-336, May.
    8. Olivia S. Mitchell & Ping Lung Hsin, 1994. "Public Sector Pension Governance and Performance," NBER Working Papers 4632, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Olivia S. Mitchell & Robert S. Smith, "undated". "Public Sector Pension Funding," Pension Research Council Working Papers 94-4, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mitchell, O.S. & Piggott, J., 2016. "Workplace-Linked Pensions for an Aging Demographic," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 865-904, Elsevier.
    2. Wiß, Tobias & Anderson, Karen M. & van der Zwan, Natascha, 2024. "Nachhaltige Investitionen in der betrieblichen Altersversorgung: Die Rolle von Mitbestimmungsakteuren in Deutschland, den Niederlanden und Dänemark," Study / edition der Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf, volume 127, number 298851, March.
    3. Robert Holzmann & Richard Hinz, 2005. "Old Age Income Support in the 21st century: An International Perspective on Pension Systems and Reform," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7336.
    4. Ashby H B Monk, 2009. "The Geography of Pension Liabilities and Fund Governance in the United States," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(4), pages 859-878, April.
    5. Ravit Rubinstein-Levi, 2021. "Disadvantaged Employees in the Trap of Defined Contribution Pension Plans," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(4), pages 55-76.
    6. repec:dau:papers:123456789/13624 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Olivia S. Mitchell & John Piggott & Cagri Kumru, 2008. "Managing Public Investment Funds: Best Practices and New Challenges," NBER Working Papers 14078, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Weller, Christian E. & Wenger, Jeffrey B., 2009. "Prudent investors: the asset allocation of public pension plans," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(4), pages 501-525, October.
    9. John A. Dove & Courtney A. Collins & Daniel J. Smith, 2018. "The impact of public pension board of trustee composition on state bond ratings," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 51-73, February.
    10. Impavido, Gregorio, 2002. "On the governance of public pension fund management," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2878, The World Bank.
    11. Jeffrey R. Brown & Joshua M. Pollet & Scott J. Weisbenner, 2015. "The In-State Equity Bias of State Pension Plans," NBER Working Papers 21020, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Jackowicz, Krzysztof & Kowalewski, Oskar, 2012. "Crisis, internal governance mechanisms and pension fund performance: Evidence from Poland," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 493-515.
    13. Siona Listokin & Meng-Hao Li & Abu Bakkar Siddique & Rajendra Kulkarni & Naoru Koizumi, 2023. "Public pension fund investments into hedge funds during the Great Recession: a network analysis," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(7), pages 1-17, July.
    14. Karen Benson & Marion Hutchinson & Ashwin Sriram, 2011. "Governance in the Australian Superannuation Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 99(2), pages 183-200, March.
    15. Xavier Aleksander Andonov & Xavier Yael V. Hochberg & Joshua D. Rauh, 2016. "Pension Fund Board Composition and Investment Performance: Evidence from Private Equity," Economics Working Papers 16104, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
    16. Hongxian Zhang & Liang Guo & Maggie Hao, 2018. "Corruption, governance, and public pension funds," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 883-919, November.
    17. John K. Wald & Hongxian Zhang, 2013. "Corruption, Governance, and Public Pension Funds," Working Papers 0168fin, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.

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